Bendable Media

The Apple iPad goes on sale Saturday

The first version of the hotly anticipated Apple iPad arrives in stores on Saturday. This version starts at $499 for a 16gb model that connects to the Web via Wi-Fi. A month later, a 3G plus Wi-Fi version will be available starting at $629. (The Apple iPad pricing chart.)

Here’s what the gadget reviewers think about the iPad:

–David Pogue, for the New York Times, writes that “techies” will complain about price and a lack of features, while the rest of us will think it is a “goof-proof computer for technophobes.”

–The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg calls the iPad a “pleasure to use” that can be considered a laptop replacement in a review sprinkled with video clips.

–In the Chicago Sun-Times, Andy Ihnatko said the Apple iPad is “a computer that many people have been wanting for years.”

–The New York Time’s David Carr uses his iPad to tweet from the bathroom.

–Ed Baig, in the USA Today, said the Apple iPad “stacks up as a formidable electronic-reader rival for Amazon’s Kindle” and “it gives portable game machines from Nintendo and Sony a run for their money.”

–In the popular cultural blog Boing Boing, Xeni Jardin said the Apple iPad is a “touch of genius.”

–”Good Morning America” tech contributor Becky Worley said “Apple has done it again.” Worley and Robin Roberts provide a hands-on demo with two iPads in the embedded video.

–Time’s Stephen Fry tests the iPad and then talks with Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

–In Apple’s own iPad video, the designers are only slightly more enthusiastic than the professional reviews.

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